Creative Uses for Tarot Cards in Your Daily Life

As I research psychic practices for my upcoming paranormal fantasy novel, I’ve become fascinated by tarot cards. Most commonly, people use tarot cards to divine the future or tap into their intuition for guidance and problem solving. However, there are plenty of other creative uses for tarot cards.

In this article, I’ll share five ways you can incorporate tarot cards into your daily life. (If you’re looking for instructions on conducting a basic tarot card reading, click here.)

1. Meditation

Meditation has several benefits, from reducing stress and anxiety to increasing attention span and memory capabilities. If you want to begin or reinvigorate a meditation practice, try adding a tarot card.

First, shuffle your tarot deck and pick a card, any card. Then, place the card in front of you. You can either stare at the card throughout your meditation session, or you can look at the card for a moment before closing your eyes. While meditating, focus on the images contained within the card. What might they symbolize? What emotions do they stir? How can you use the card to guide your meditation and your intentions for the rest of the day?

2. Prompts

Another creative use for tarot cards is as prompts. Whether you’re writing, drawing, scrapbooking, or engaging in any other artistic pursuit, tarot cards can help spark inspiration. Treat them the same way you’d treat a written prompt.

Simply shuffle your tarot deck and select a card. Consider the card’s name, the illustrations on it, and the meaning it holds. Then, start creating a story, picture, or whatever else inspired by the tarot card. Don’t worry about being too literal or too abstract. The only goals are to let the tarot card inspire you and have fun.

3. Fiction Writing

Perhaps the most “creative” use of tarot cards on this list is to utilize them for character creation, story structure, and other aspects of fiction writing. Whenever you feel blocked, pulling out tarot cards can help you approach your story in a new way and think more with the right (artistic) side of the brain, rather than the left (logical) side of the brain.

While you shuffle your tarot deck, focus on the story problem. This could be developing a dynamic antagonist, helping your characters navigate an action scene, or even just what should happen in the next chapter. Then, as always, pick a card and consider its name, imagery, and symbolism. Let your intuition guide you, and you’ll be solving your writing problems in no time.

For more information on using tarot cards as a creative writing tool, read Story Arcana: Tarot for Writers by Caroline Donahue.

4. Visualizing & Manifesting Desires

Science has proven that visualization is a key practice for increasing performance and success. For instance, take Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. Every day, Phelps visualizes his races, picturing exactly how he will perform from start to finish. This practice not only made him a better swimmer, but it allowed him to win even when water filled his goggles and blinded him during a race. Through visualization, he could literally swim the race with his eyes closed.

Your goals might not be Olympic in nature but visualizing yourself working toward them and achieving them can help you manifest them in your life. How can tarot cards help with that? Simply select the tarot card that most closely aligns with your goals. For example, if you desire a promotion at work, pick the Sun (the card that often symbolizes success). Or if you’re pursuing an artistic project, try the High Priestess (the card associated with the spiritual muse). Then, focus on the card’s energy and imagery and incorporate them into your visualization exercise.

5. Decision Making

This is my favorite of the creative uses for tarot cards. Sometimes, flipping a coin isn’t good enough. Maybe you have more than one option from which to choose. Or perhaps the situation is more complex than deciding where to eat dinner or what shoes to wear. That’s where tarot can come to the rescue.

Shuffle the tarot cards while thinking about your decision and the options you could choose. Then, select a tarot card and consider its name, imagery, and symbolism. It doesn’t really matter what that tarot card is or means here. The key is relying on your intuition to interpret the decision that’s truly right for you, using the tarot card as the vehicle to bring the information to the surface.

Sometimes, you might even find yourself hoping that a certain tarot card will turn up, because it will lead you to a particular decision. A similar sensation happens with coin flipping. As the coin lands, you might find yourself hoping for a particular outcome or feel disappointed by the chosen side. That’s all great! Because, regardless of the tarot card or coin side, your subconscious has finally given its decision to your conscious self. Trust your gut more than the objects.

In all of these creative uses for tarot cards, one thing remains constant: the cards are a tool for tapping into your inner wisdom. You already know how to find inner peace, be artistic, or make good decisions. The tarot cards simply give you something on which to focus your attention and think in a fresh way.

Try one of these methods and see for yourself. And, once you do, leave your results in the comments!

If you’re a fan of psychic practices like tarot and paranormal fantasy books, you’ll love my upcoming novel featuring psychic Lorena Rivera and her adventures in modern-day Salem, Massachusetts. You can learn more about the novel, see detailed book research (like tarot readings!), and get a FREE short story by signing up for my Kate’s Coven email list.